Love
by AuroraStarPhoenix
Summary: How far will one go to protect the one they love, especially if that love is unrequitted and requires the sacrifice of one's life? What will Hinata's decision be? HinataXGaara.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto and all it's characters do not belong to me, my imagination is not that good.

Note: Okay, this story takes place when the rookie nine are about 19. Sasuke is still on the loose and the Akatsuki really wants the Kyuubi now.

----------------------------------------

In the dark shadows of Akatsuki's lair, a shinobi secretly listens in on the members.

"The kyuubi is too powerful."

"There must be some weakness…"

"Gather the others. We must have the kyuubi at all costs!"

'_Hn. They'll never find his weakness'_ thought Gaara as he turns his attention back to the members sitting around the stone table._ 'With his limitless source of chakra and obstinate nature, he has none.'_

Something then catches his attention.

"Wait, there might be a way." Kisame suddenly spoke up. "Itachi, do you remember the last time we fought the gaki?"

"What of it?" asked an emotionless Itachi.

"Do remember how he fought relentlessly to protect that pink-haired girl?"

"Yes, what does that…ah…I see."

The leader then gave a shark-like grin and commented, "Men, I believe we have just found our weakness…"

'_Pink-haired…do they mean Haruno Sakura?'_ wondered Gaara.

However, before he could further contemplate on this, he is nearly hit by a kunai.

"Intruder!"

As all the Akatsuki prepared to attack, Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand.

"Oh well, " said Deidara as he sat back down. "There goes that plan."

"Not quite. " replied the leader.

"What do you mean leader?" asked another member.

"This might work to our advantage after all", said the leader mysteriously.

……….

While leaping through the forest in the direction of Konoha, one thought flew through Gaara's mind. _'I must warn the Hokage.'_

………

Meanwhile in Konoha, at a secret waterfall, a young woman dances on the water. Wearing only a white bathing suit, she quietly goes through her nightly routine workout. Tears silently fall from her face as she recalls the events of the past month…

-flashback-

In a valley, the rookie 9 (not including Sasuke), team Gai, and the siblings of Sunagakure are engaged in a fierce battle with Kisame and Itachi. In the midst of fighting, Sakura becomes trapped under a fallen tree.

"Sakura!" screamed Naruto.

"Naruto, forget about me, get away from here, you know it's you they're after!"

"No! I won't leave my precious person behind!"

-end flashback-

'_His precious person…is not me.' _Thought Hinata sadly._ 'But why do I still love him? It hurts, but the feelings won't go away.'_

While contemplating on this, she slowly ends her dance and redresses her self. Then drying the tears on her face, she secretly goes back to her home.

………………

So what do you think? Sorry, for any grammatical or spelling errors. First fanfic, so tell me whether I should continue or not please. Oh, and if you want me to continue, please vote in your review.

I'm thinking on whether having it Hinata/Gaara or Hinata/Naruto. Don't worry, if you vote for Hinata/Naruto, I won't make him look like a two-timer, and Gaara would just end up being a friend. If voting for Hinata/Gaara, then Naruto will stay with Sakura.

The other one is, anyone want Sakura or Hinata to die? If so, only choose one, not both. If you don't want either of them to die, then that's okay too. Originally, I planned for Hinata to die, but I like her too much . Don't worry, there is no Sakura bashing, I don't like to bash people.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll let this post for a week or 2 and see how to continue from there.

Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, I'm back with chapter 2! Thank you nameless, ArmorOfGeddon, animefreak, and ty for your reviews and encouragement, and to all who read the 1st chapter. I was going to focus only on the other story because this one was getting hard to write and it's more fun writing about Hoshiakari, but it wouldn't be nice, so I'll finish this story. There's good news and bad news though. The good news is that I've finished writing the ending, and it's really nice (well to me anyway). All I have to do is type and edit :D The bad news is that the events leading to the climax and ending…yeah, well, that's the problem. That's why the next few chapters will probably be a bit late, sorry. It's because those chapters will be full of fight scenes with Gaara training Hinata and analyzing her performance. However, I will get them done somehow. Anyway, this was the best I could do for this chapter, hope it's okay :D. Sorry, brothers won't beta read this one o.o'

Anyway, it looks like Gaara won the voting. So now, it's officially Gaara/Hinata!

Oh, don't forget, read and review please :D Sorry for any spelling and grammatical errors.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto the manga or the anime, they all belong to Masashi Kishimoto, cause if I did, then Naruto wouldn't be as dense as he is.

Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot. Hinata's dance scene? Not mine, well except for a tiny part I added to make it a bit longer, but other than that, nope not mine.

"normal speech"

"**spoken by everyone in the area"**

'_thoughts'_

**'thoughts of the other people in response to the previous speaker'**

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next afternoon, the former rookie nine and their respective sensei, Team Guy, Iruka, Temari, and Kankuro all gathered in the Hokage's office.

As they waited for Tsunade to arrive, talk began to fill the air.

Curious, Tenten asked the question floating through all of their minds, "I wonder why she suddenly called us all in?"

"Yeah, and she really seemed tensed earlier." noted Sakura.

Naruto became quiet as he remembered the scene from earlier.

–flashback–

Overjoyed to see his favorite baachan, Naruto ran up to greet her. The look in her face stopped him as he opened his mouth.

"Hey baachan, what's up?" he asked worriedly.

"Not now Naruto, I'm very busy right now. Shizune, have everyone in my office for a meeting by 4:00. Naruto you be there too." With that, Tsunade brushed passed Naruto, rushing to her next destination.

–end flashback –

'_She didn't even yell at me for calling her baachan.' _He thought worriedly. _'Hope she's okay.'_ Turning to Sakura, he asked, "Sakura, she's your sensei, do you know what's wrong?"

"No, she wouldn't tell me anything, Naruto." concern also filled her voice.

Everyone watched as the door opened and Gaara entered the room moving towards his siblings.

Moving aside for him, Temari asked, "Hey Gaara, you're back. How was your mission?"

"It was successful." Came the stoic reply.

"Oh yeah, hey Gaara, you were with her earlier. Do you know what got baachan so antsy?" asked Naruto from across the room.

"…" Gaara refused to answer and resumed his quiet stance.

Ignoring the loudmouth as well, Kankuro turned towards his younger brother, "So how was the meeting?"

Gaara didn't even twitch.

Temari decided to take that for an answer, "That bad huh."

Noticing their whispering, Naruto wanted to be in the conversation as well. "Hey, what is it you're whispering over there!"

Annoyed Kankuro replied. "None of your business."

"Hmph, okay fine be that way." He answered back pouting a bit.

"I hope she's okay." Continued Sakura worriedly, bring Naruto's attention back to her.

"Don't worry Sakura. This is baachan we're talking about." Naruto said giving her a reassuring hug and smile.

Meanwhile, standing between her teammates and in front of her sensei, a certain kunoichi's heart was breaking. _'Naruto-kun …every time he hugs or smiles at her…it hurts.'_

Tenten, noting that a certain teammate of hers was unusually quiet decided to investigate. "Hey Lee, aren't you going to proclaim your undying love for her?"

"No Tenten." He sighed. "I have finally accepted that the flames of Sakura's love was not meant for me. It seems that my love for her was only of infatuation, and sadly I must now find my true love." Then, putting on a determine face, flames burning in his eyes, and holding up a shaking finger, he continued, "And I will find her! As long as the flames of youth live within me I WILL FIND HER!"

Excitedly, Gai urged him on, "That's the spirit Lee! The flames of youth **will** live on!"

Everyone watched as the two ran towards one another with tears streaming down their faces, wondering how Lee got to the other side of the room in the first place, and why did he go there if he was only going to run back.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

A sunset appeared in the Hokage's office. Everyone in the room mentally sweat dropped.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"L-"

"**Okay, okay, we get it!" **They all screamed, well, almost all of them.

'_That Gai, he'll never change.' _Thought his rival exasperatedly

Leaning over to whisper to Tenten, Naruto asked, "Do they still do that all the time?"

Sighing Tenten replied, "They have their moments."

Shino and Gaara, **'…'**

Turning his attention away from the commotion, Shikamaru muttered, "This is so troublesome"

Seeing this, Hinata began to ponder. _'Lee no longer cares for Sakura…Will the same happen to me? …No. how can I even think of such a thing…'_

However, with the tension in the room broken, everyone began to relax a bit. Unfortunately, the respite was brief. Hearing the door opened again everyone became silent. An exhausted Tsunade entered the room with Shizune close behind. She slowly walked pass the others with no greeting or acknowledgement. Reaching her chair, Tsunade slumped down upon it. Then placing her elbows on the desk, she sighed as she rested her head upon her hands. This was not a good sign for the others. The Hokage rarely if ever, showed such emotions.

Worriedly, Naruto began, "Tsunade-baachan? Daijoubu?"

Sighing she looked up trying to put on a smile, "Hai, hai, Naruto-kun, Daijoubu desu."

They all looked to Shizune for answers.

She only shook her head, silently telling them not to ask. A few moments passed as the others tried to find words to say.

"Why the emergency meeting Tsunade-sama?" Sakura tentatively questioned her mentor.

"Gaara has reported some very disturbing news from his mission. It seems that the Akatsuki is planning to capture you as a result of your relationship with Naruto."

The room erupts in discussion.

"There's no way they're getting Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he protectively wrapped his arms around Sakura.

"Let them come, I can handle them." Sakura angrily challenged.

Thrusting his fist in the air, Lee added. "We will all do our part to protect this beautiful youthful blossom of Konoha."

"Speak for yourself, troublesome."

Angrily, Ino came to the defense of her best friend, "What did you say Shikamaru-kun!"

'_Oh Naruto…'_ thought Hinata sadly, as the other voices in the room faded into the background of her mind. _'If…if only…b-but I must not think of that now. Sa-Sakura needs us.'_ The conflict between her heart and duty continued. Noticing Kiba trying to get her attention, she turned her mind back to the issue at hand.

"Gomen, what did you say Kiba-kun?"

"I said, 'Don't worry, we're the best of Konoha!'" he repeated.

"Hinata-chan, daijoubu desu ka" Shino asked quietly.

"Hai, gomenasai Shino-kun, I didn't mean to make you worry."

Shino nodded and left it at that.

Soon the conversations grew louder as everyone tried to determine who were the best qualified to protect their friend.

Being diplomatic, Temari made her offer at Gaara's nod, "Hokage-sama, we would be honored to protect Haring-san as part of our alliance with the leaf village."

"No, we should do it, Sakura is my oldest and best friend, and Shikamaru is our resident genius!"

"No, our team is more qualified, and Neji-san has the Byakugan while Lee-san is the taijutsu expert."

"Silence!" Tsunade shouted, reaching the end of her patience. The room became silent once again. "I am grateful that all of you wish to lend your support. However, I'm sure you all remember what happened to Kazekage-sama." She added indicating the former demon-container.

Continuing on she informed them of the day's events, "…Therefore, the council and I have agreed that the most important thing to do is to keep the Akatsuki from Naruto, at any cost."

Angrily, Naruto asked, "What about Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto" She admonished.

"No, he is right Sakura. The Akatsuki is after you now as well. As of right now, two ANBU squads will be guarding you at all times. I wished to tell the rest of to be on your toes as well. You all have some connection to Naruto and they might decide to use that to their advantage if their plan fails."

Oblivious of Hinata's feelings, Naruto determinedly interrupted, "No, I will keep an eye on her. I will protect her!"

Tsunade immediately rejected the idea, "No, you do know that they are really after you Naruto."

Meanwhile, the chaos continued within Hinata and her hand trembled, wanting to cover the aching organ, _'I need to concentrate on the issue …don't think about it. I can't let my emotions get in the way. …Why am I so weak?'_

Occupied with worry about Sakura and now concern for themselves as well, no one noticed the hidden sadness in Hinata's eyes except Shino.

The conversation as more questions were brought up and plans were made to ensure that no one was alone at all times. Soon night fell, and as the day took its toll on Tsunade, and she decided to adjourn the meeting.

"Now remember Naruto, you in particular need to be on your guard at all times", She warned him again, "We must make it so that the Akatsuki will never get their hands on the kyuubi."

"Don't worry baachan, I'll be careful." He answered resolutely.

"Now everyone is dismissed, and remember be on your guard."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, Hinata once again made her way to her secret sanctuary for another night of training. Unbeknownst to her, she was not the only person taking a nightly walk. Curious, he silently followed the heiress as she made her way through the dark forest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Removing her outer clothing to revealing her training suit, Hinata performed her actions unconsciously, for her mind and heart was still filled with the distractions of her many conflicting emotions. Slowly she walked out onto the surface of the lake and performed her dance perfected by years of practice.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the shadows of a tree, Gaara observed the young heiress as she gracefully danced her way across the surface of the water while the trees and moonlight fought to hide and reveal her. Interested, he watched the way her long hair would flair out into a cape whenever she twirled and spun before they wrapped themselves around her again. Making a small leap in the air, she landed on the other edge of the lake only to spin her way back, barely made a sound as she danced to music unheard. Gaara then watched fixated at a Hinata encasing herself in a sphere of spiraling water, creating a silhouette in foaming white water. Ending this scene, she moved on to create small clear globes of water to float around her dancing form. Her steady hand movements were gentle and graceful, yet purposeful and confident. The many bubbles of water then merged with one another and eventually became a thin, clear, pliable sheet that looked to be about 2-3 hand spans wide. Once all the bubbles became one, she spun slightly causing this thin moonlit yet transparent fabric of water to twist around her body. The water slowly became a bubble again and the bubble silently returned to the water.

'_I smell salt…'_

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata continued her dance as she attempted to calm down her chaotic emotions and thoughts. After a few more minutes, she began to relax again and began to notice another presence in the area. Feeling eyes watching her, her movements started to falter as her nervousness grew and she secretly tried to find the voyeur. Her uneasiness grew and Hinata finally decided to act. Turning away from the presence, she quickly performed the hand signs and activated her kekkei genkai.

"Byakugan!"

Almost instantly, she discovered Gaara standing behind a group of branches. Turning around, she tried to flee only to be stopped as a tendril of sand wrapped around her waist.

'_The Kazekage! Oh no, this isn't good.'_ Hinata froze while the sand gently lifted her into the air and towards Gaara. Unwillingly she remembered the event from the chunnin exam. Sure, he was an ally now and from the other few times she had met him, he seemed polite. However, these facts did little to lessen her fear.

Once there, the two stood there with Hinata staring at the ground blushing as she fiddled with her fingers and Gaara watching her, his arms crossed. A few moments passed and a cool breeze blew, causing the trees rustled softly, and Hinata to shiver a bit. Then she felt as the sand around her waist left and more sand coming towards her. Flinching, Hinata closed her eyes waiting, only to feel something soft wrap around her shoulders. Looking up, she noticed that Gaara no longer wore his cloak and gave him a confused face.

"You were cold." He explained emotionlessly.

More silence passed between the two and Hinata began to fidget with her fingers again trying to come up with words.

"What were you doing?" He asked breaking the silence.

"T-training. I-I am weak, t-t-therefore I n-need to t-t-train."

"Why?"

"To – to become s-stronger f-for my precious p-person, I-I w-want to be s-stronger for my precious person"

'_She reminds me of him'_

"So you wish to become stronger." He confirmed.

"H-hai."

More silence past as Gaara thought this over. Finally coming to a decision, he responded. "Dance for me."

"Eh! ..um …uh …ah … nani!" Hinata sputtered out blushing slightly, not sure she heard him right.

"…Dance for me and I will train you." He stated.

"W-why?"

Gaara just stared at her.

"Why do you wish to me to dance for you? Why train me?"

Shrugging he replied, "You amuse me."

"Oh." Hinata's shoulders slumped.

Silence continued again as Hinata debated on whether to accept his offer. Finally, Gaara, tired of waiting, uncrossed his arms and turned to walk off. Before taking a step though, he turned his head giving her a side glance and added,

"And you remind me of someone."

Hinata's head shot up at this, and she gave him a questioning glance. But this time, Gaara simply walked off. Hoping that she was making the right decision, she followed him away from the lake.

They soon reached a clearing and Gaara stopped abruptly causing Hinata to nearly crash into him.

"We will train here." He stated.

"O-okay, but …um …I n-need to get m-my clothes." She blushed remembering that she had forgotten them back at the waterfall.

Silently, sand moved to Hinata, holding out her clothes.

Blushing, she thanked him.

"G-gomenasai, I-I will be quick."

Gaara nodded his assent and Hinata quickly ran to change into her dry clothes. Still wondering if she made the right decision, Hinata returned to the clearing. Placing some distance between them, Gaara turned back to fact Hinata and crossed his arms.

"The training will begin, Hyuuga-san."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some terms used:

Sensei – teacher

Baachan – granny (grandmother)

daijoubi (said w/ questioning voice)/daijoubu - are you okay?

daijoubi desu - yes (i'm) fine

gomen/gomenasai - sorry, excuse me (as an apology)...

taijutsu - a style of martial arts

kekkei genkai – bloodlimit (it's a special ability that has to be inherited by blood)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah…he doesn't sound too friendly does he. Well that's okay because he doesn't love her yet, after all they've only had their first conversation, it'd be weird for him to like her right away, even if she's Hinata. Okay, uh I'll stop trying to explain my actions, now -.-'. Hope you liked the waterfall, it seems like it's only thing that would catch his attention. o.o' Sorry if it isn't as good as the first chapter, the office scene was really awkward. Well, hope to see you in the next chapter? o.o'


	3. Chapter 3

Hi! I'm back, sorry for the long wait. I was really dreading this chapter. Those of you who've read my other story already know that I really hate writing fight scenes. I still have at least 5 more to write, why do I do this to myself T.T Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon this fic. I really have written the ending, it's just the events that lead to the ending that I'm having trouble with. Thank you for your patience if you're still here. Be warned, I'm going to change the title. I also want to thank all my kind reviewers, hope you are still here and sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. School is about to start again so updates are going to be slow but I will try to update. I've replied to all the reviews below. Sorry if I've missed anyone, ff haven't been sending me my alerts lately so I don't know what's going on. Now I have to go apologize to my other reviewers for **'So, Ummm Who's the Father?' **Okay, I think that's it for now, I have no idea what else to say except, please don't forget to review :D Oh yeah, not much dialogue, hope you all don't mind.

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto the anime and manga not me. I wish though!

**------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Review Replies:

Thegoldenlock: Thank you for the kind and encouraging reviews!

zzz…: yep :D

hyugaheiress: lol, Sakura won't die, but something will happen. I don't really hate her, I just find her a bit annoying, so I won't slash her character. Don't worry, she won't play a large role in the story anyway, not really. Well, for the office scene, Sakura is one of them and the Suna siblings were only doing it because Konoha is their ally and it was only expected that they would offer their aid. It's a politics thing. But yeah, you're right it was an awkward scene. Neji will play a role in this story too, but it will mostly be later on.

AngelicSwordian: Thank you and sorry for the long wait! O.O"

Aria52: Thank you :D You're very kind to say so!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now on to the story!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata slammed her palm against the seemingly impenetrable wall of sand. It had already been a week since the Kazekage had first offered to train her in exchange of watching her nightly performance on the waters, and she had still not found a way to break down his wall of sand. Every night she would show up in fear that he would not be there, that he was finally too disgusted by her weakness and decided that her dance was not enough payment for him to train such a wretched person. Therefore, in addition to training extra in the daytime as an effort to improve quicker, she had also began coming up with new techniques to improve her dance. So far, her new ways of controlling the water seemed to be keeping him entertained, as there were no complaints, yet. Last night she had finished her performance in a fireworks display made entirely of water. _'I need to hit harder, move faster, motto, motto!'_

Desperately, she tried to circle around him and strike him from behind. From what her cousin had told her about Gaara's fights during the first Chuunin exams, his sand shield, while strong was sometimes not fast enough as proven by first Lee and later Sasuke. Quickly, she flashed behind him only come up against another sand wall. Hoping to throw him off guard, she began to run circles around him and striking randomly. It was futile, the sand was always faster. _'I mustn't give up, it is an honor for me to even train with one so strong. I need to get better, motto!'_

Hinata gave one last attempt before she was forced to retreat a few feet as sand spikes suddenly shot from the ground. Her grace period was up and she now needed to worry about avoiding the Kazekage's attacks as well as trying to penetrate his barrier. Leaping from tree to tree, Hinata continued to avoid his attacks, although he had blunted the tips of the sand, it could still leave a nasty bruise if one of them managed to hit her. However, she knew that if she was to succeed in her goal, she was going to have to get closer and physically strike the sand barrier.

The ground surrounding the Kazekage was filled with spears chaotically rising and falling from the earth. Carefully watching them, she could see that there were some patches of ground were occasionally calm and that if she timed it right, there was a slight possibility that she could avoid the projectiles and also get into range. Gathering what little optimism she had, Hinata dashed towards the sand spikes thrusting up from the ground and began various attempts at dodging them all while slowly moving closer towards the center where the Kazekage was.

Dodge rolling to the left; Hinata was distressed to find that her most recent action had carried her further away from the target and that she had barely gone half the distance needed. Picking herself up again, the young maiden determinedly tried again. The Kazekage had deigned to train with her so he must have seen something worth training even if she did not, and Hinata wasn't going to disappoint him. _'I need to keep trying, try harder!'_

Gaara allowed his mind to wander while his sand continued to protect him. He didn't have to worry about being harmed, the Hyuuga had shown very little signs of improvement over the past couple of days and it was not likely that she would succeed tonight. He remembered the first time they had trained and she was unable to avoid his sand spikes. _'Well, at least she's getting better at dodging my attacks…However, just dodging them is not enough.'_

Protected by his sand, Gaara casually analyzed her movements. He couldn't say that there weren't any improvements, the Hyuuga _was _improving, if only in miniscule amounts and she _was_ constantly finding new ways to overcome the obstacles that he had set for her. He watched as she effectively avoided a few of his sand spikes and mentally made a note to include a stronger attack in their next training session.

What Gaara couldn't understand was why he had offered to aid her in her training in the first place. Maybe it was because he liked watching her face light up a little during her tiny victories. On the other hand, maybe it was because he wanted to know what kept her going when everything seemed to be against her. It could also be because he saw the same will and determination in her as his blond friend. Or maybe it was because he bored with nothing to do at night and needed something to amuse him. All he knew was that something inside compelled him to continue to spar with her.

He watched as she was slowly but surely inching her way past his forest of spikes. Increasing the speed of his attack a little, he watched as her dismayed face as she was forced back a few steps. Although she had risen in the ranks of the shinobi and had finally assumed her position as the head of the Hyuuga family, she was still considered weak. The crimson-haired Kazekage wondered at the fifth Hokage's reasons for promoting the Hyuuga to her current rank. _'Is there something about her that I am missing?'_

Her kekkei genkai was reputed to be powerful and he agreed having seen the older Hyuuga in combat. However, this Hyuuga was not at that level. Confused, Gaara continued searching for a possible reason for her high shinobi rank. Her chakra levels were average and although she had precise chakra control, it was useless if she wasn't able to land a single strike on him. She was always hesitating to attack, and when she did, her moment of hesitation had cost her any advantage she might have had. _'How is it possible that she attained this rank? Why do I feel this need to help her improve?'_

Hinata took another backwards leap. She was no closer than when she had first started. The forest of spikes seemed impossible to traverse. She had considered using her ultimate defense and slash the sand protrusions to bits but she had only at the most spun in place while using it and did not know if she would be able to effectively keep her control over the chakra strings while focusing on walking forward as well. Then there was the fact that one could burst out of the ground beneath her at anytime. Hinata began to fear that there was no way that she could reach her goal. She shook her head refusing to believe that it was impossible. _'No, I have to try, Naruto, Naruto, he wouldn't give up and neither will I!'_

With that resolve, Hinata gathered her strength and found a safe place to start her attack. As she brought her right hand to her face and concentrated, a glowing green yin yang symbol spun into view at her feet. Spreading her arms out, she focused her chakra into the palms of her hands. Holding a steady stream, she began swiping at the outer edge of the sharp forest. _'motto, motto'_

Tentatively, she took two steps forward while maintaining a steady flow of chakra into her jutsu. Seeing this little success, Hinata gained a little confidence and proceeded to continue the careful journey to her destination. _'motto, faster, sharper!'_

Lost in his thoughts, Gaara failed to notice a sharp chakra laser flying towards him. Gaara felt a sting to his arm and broke out of his thoughts just in time to flicker away before the many chakra strings slashed the spot. His eyes widened as he looked at his arm to see the thin mark of a chakra burn. It seemed that she wasn't as weak as he first thought.

Looking over to where she stood, he saw that she had already stopped her attack as she realized what she had done and was now looking at the pile of sand before her in horror. He continued to watch as she quickly ran to her bag and brought out her first aid kit. Seeing that she was searching for him worriedly, he stepped out from behind a tree and made his appearance known. She then began bowing while profusely apologizing.

"G-gomenasai, gomenasai Kazekage-sama! I-I didn't know, I-I m-mean I d-didn't mean to…gomenasai!" She brought her fingers nervously to her lips.

Gaara calmly raised his hand while silently berating himself for his carelessness, "Don't, it was my fault."

"Ano…" Hinata raised her head and noticed that the wound on his upper arm was starting to bleed a little. "Ah! Your arm… gomenasai! Here, let me!"

Hinata opened her kit and gestured unsurely towards his arm, silently asking permission. Seeing she was not going to stop worrying, he complied. Carefully cleaning the area, she applied her special cooling ointment gently blowing to ease the pain. Then she carefully wrapped the cut up with cloth bandages and secured it. Finally, she replaced the lid on the little jar and timidly gave it to him. "H-here, this should help, just reapply it a few times and it should not even scar."

Meanwhile, Gaara had watched her ministering with bemusement. Any other person would have celebrated at such an achievement, especially after having spent days to reach it. Instead, she had panicked at the thought of having seriously injuring him. Her cousin was probably right; she was too kind to ever be a proper shinobi. The wound was a mere scratch yet she had insisted on caring for it. Seeing her over reaction to his slight injury, he began to wonder what she would have done if he was an enemy and she had critically harmed him. He mentally shook his head, _'Probably rush me to the nearest medic nin, asking for forgiveness all the way.'_

Uncomfortably accepting the tiny peace offering, Gaara looked towards the east. "The sun will be rising soon."

Worriedly, Hinata wanted to ask if he would still be here tomorrow night. "A-" she trailed off not knowing what to say.

"You have patrol duty today." Gaara stated unemotionally.

She bit her lip wondering how to approach the question. It did not feel right that she should expect him to continue training such weak person and she didn't really want to trouble the Kazekage. She knew that the only reason she had caught him off guard was that he was already distracted. _'I haven't really improved at all. I'm still such a burden to those around me…'_

Gaara looked at her bow her head before looking up and opening her mouth as if wanting to ask something. It was the same after every session. Her face would unconsciously show her hope and fear. Hope, that he would be there tomorrow night. Fear, that he would not.

"and you will need to prepare for our next match."

He watched as her face brightened up and she bowed gratefully to him before leaving to repack her medical supplies. His eyes passively followed her as she joyfully waved him good-bye. As he watched her leave the training area, he returned to his thoughts. Maybe this was why he continued to train her. Her smile was always open and sincere, and it made him feel a bit warm inside. It was always nice to be needed.

---------------------------------------------

So, good, bad? Am I moving the relationship too fast? I hope they aren't OOC. Please tell me in your reviews :D


End file.
